SFR "Premium" purchases you found to be "worth it"

[SurfnFish]

Stoked (!) to see this pin and the rest of your quiver. Legit.

Yes - Cloudbreak. I first went in ‘96 while still a student. A bunch of my friends go every year. I usually can’t make it but once in a while I manage to tag along. Jon Roseman is a friend of a friend.

Tough these days as my surfing is not remotely what it used to be/needs to be for good waves. Living east of Seattle is basically another lifetime from my long-ago days living in HI. On rare opportunities I have these days to travel for surf, I try to pick an area that lets me ease into it and knock at least some rust off (think Central America beach breaks not heavy Cloudbreak). Tricky because my surf travel buddies still charge and they want to go to great surf. I can either join them and try not to get destroyed...or just go solo.

These days I have to coach myself to put my ego aside and enjoy whatever waves I find rather than fixating on how much better I (in my own head I’m convinced) used to surf.

Those who haven't been to CB don't understand what it's like surfing an open ocean reef miles from the nearest island, especially at that size with massive walls pouring in and each wave lining up different than the one before and after....and scoring a 10 out of 10 barrel like yours is in the bank forever.
Jon's a legend...and there's always the Straits when those swells manage to make it through the gap
thnx for sharing!

 

[SurfnFish]

Stoked (!) to see this pin and the rest of your quiver. Legit.

Yes - Cloudbreak. I first went in ‘96 while still a student. A bunch of my friends go every year. I usually can’t make it but once in a while I manage to tag along. Jon Roseman is a friend of a friend.

Tough these days as my surfing is not remotely what it used to be/needs to be for good waves. Living east of Seattle is basically another lifetime from my long-ago days living in HI. On rare opportunities I have these days to travel for surf, I try to pick an area that lets me ease into it and knock at least some rust off (think Central America beach breaks not heavy Cloudbreak). Tricky because my surf travel buddies still charge and they want to go to great surf. I can either join them and try not to get destroyed...or just go solo.

These days I have to coach myself to put my ego aside and enjoy whatever waves I find rather than fixating on how much better I (in my own head I’m convinced) used to surf.

my 14 year old son with the blue Gath helmet at age 14 ...had just paddled to the boat for a water break and to snap a few pics on what was a fun OH day until this beast suddenly reared up..couldn't believe he managed to duck dive through it..the guy next to him snapped his board and got washed way down the reef out of sight

 

[DimeBrite]

Teahupo'o is gonna crank when the white rhinos push up through the Tasman during El Nino.

 

[Paige]

Oh boy, guitar picks! Another rabbit hole for sure. I haven't gone as deep as @G_Smolt.

At the beginning of my guitar journey (college take one), one of my picking buddies/early bandmates gave me a 1.14mm Dunlop 500 pick with the advice "This'll improve your tone control". I used it religiously for many months then put it in my archives once it rounded out. He's gone on to a successful career in the band Hot Buttered Rum so he must know something.

A few years later when I started playing mandolin and cuatro I got some of the Dawg picks but honestly never liked the rounded "points" and cross section as they were little too stiff and slippy for my tastes. I find I'm more precise with a pointier point.

For a long time I was a 1.00mm Clayton Acetal round triangle guy as they had the right blend of stiffness, flex, and three corners that started out equally pointy which worked well for aggro punk rock thrashing. They were a bit heavy for acoustic stuff where I prefer a normal teardrop 0.73mm or 0.88mm Tortex or acetal type.

Years ago I was working in the Bahamas and came across some hawksbill and green sea turtle bits and pieces. As an experiment I made some picks out of them because that's what a musical scientist should do. Hawksbill was indeed excellent while green was a bit light. They all stayed down there when I left for obvious reasons.

While I have my preferences I can get by with just about anything. There is only one style of pick that's a complete non-starter: Nylon. Absolute trash feel and tone.

How about strings? I've been using Ernie Ball Power Slinky 11-48s on my electrics for the past ~15 years and D'Addario phosphor bronze light gauge on my acoustic.

The aforementioned Dunlop 500 1.14mm pick Nat gave me over 30 years ago that started my guitaring journey. Thanks buddy!
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Tortex and Ernie Ball Supper Slinky for me for 30 yrs!